Regional Security : US Pledges $45 Million Fund

United States will remain a strong security partner for Nigeria in the fight against insecurity. The declaration was made by Secretary of State Antony Blinken after an audience with Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on January 23, 2024 in Abuja. During the visit, Mr Blinken said, the US would provide an additional $45m to West African nations as part of a plan to battle instability, bringing total funding under the year-old programme to nearly $300m, according to reports by AFP. In a four-nation tour of African countries, Blinken met separately with Presidents Alassane Ouattara of Ivory Coast and Bola Tinubu of Nigeria. The trip was to discuss US-African partnerships over trade, climate, infrastructure, health, security and other issues. It follows a summit in Washington with African leaders in December 2022.
AFP reports that while in Abuja, President Tinubu and the US top diplomate did focus their discussions on deepening democracy in the West African country and democratizing the United Nations Security Council. “What we have to do is collectively practice what we preach. The values that we uphold democracy, rule of law need to be practiced, and we need to see them being practiced in the very decision-making bodies or entities for the planet.” Blinken said during the press briefing. Most world leaders are of the opinion that, the UN Security Council needs to be democratized, it is not fit for purpose because when one looks at the global security architecture, it is impacted by undemocratic entities that influence decisions. Since 2017, U.S. security assistance to Nigeria has totaled approxim...